Vehicle running-gear



(No Model.)

H. MANKE'L, Jr.

VEHICLE RUNNING GEAR. No. 308,972. Patented Den. 9, 1 884.

Warren, Starts- Parana @rrrcre;

HENRY MANKEL, Jlt, OF MCKEAN, PENNSYLVANIA.

.l C VEHlCLE RUNNlNG-GEAR.

, SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No- 308,972, dated December 9, 1884.

l Application filed January 24,1884. (No model.)

T at whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, HENRY IVIANKEL, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Me- Kean, in the county of Erie and State of Pennfifth-wheel, and fragments of the axles.

sylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Running-Gear of Vagons and Carriages; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention consists in providing certain new and useful improvements in the construction of the running'gears of wagons and carriages, as shall hereinafter fully appear.

The invention has for its object economy in the construction, lightness with additional strength, and beauty of design.

The invention relates particularly to the construction of the reach and the fifth-wheel, the other parts of the gear being made as commonly.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, as follows:

Figure l is a top plan view of the reach, Fig. 2 is a side view of a part of the reach and all of the filtlrwheel. Fig. '3 is a bottom plan of the reach and the upper part of the Iiftlrwhecl.

3 B is the reach. 0 is the bolster. 1) is the lower part of the fifthwheel. E is a brace from the lower end of the king-bolt to the upper part-of the fifth-wheel, and is so formed as to form a guide for the lower part of said wheel. F is the king-bolt. G G are the reach-iron and upper part of the fifth-wheel, as will be explained fully hereinafter. I), b, and b are cap-irons on the upper side of the reach.

The essential features of the invention are the formation of the reach of two pieces crossed in the form of an X, and making its main iron a part of the fifth-wheel.

In the drawings, G- represents the upper part of the fifth-wheel and the reach-iron back to the crossing of the two parts of the reach, and G represents the balance of the reach-iron.

13' represents the point of crossing of the reach.

I am aware that it is common to construct a running'gear with a reach consisting of two bars, which connect with the bolster on each A A are the axles.

axle, near the wheels. These double reaches have also been connected with the upper part of the fifth-wheel, asin Patent No. 127,093, dated May 21, 1872. I am also aware that two reaches have been bent or curved so as to come in contact at a point back of the bolster, and have been ironed by a solid bifurcated iron, as is shown in Letters Patent No. 118,115, dated August 15, 1871; but I am not aware that the two reaches have ever been crossed in the manner of an X.

Fig. 8 shows the under side of the reach and the upper part of the fifth-wheel, and it will there be seen that the reach-irons and the up per part of the ii fth-whecl are welded together and form one piece of metal. I expect to construct this iron as follows: An X-iron will be struck up in proper form to fit at the intcrsectingpoint B of the reaches. The upper part of the fiftlrwheel will be forged as commonly, only its rear part will not be curved to coniormto the lower half of the said wheel, but will be pointed back in proper line to meet the )(-iron, to which the points or ends will be welded. The parts G G of the reachiron will be forged as commonly, and welded to the back prongs of the )(-iron. In order to secure great strength at the intersection, I expect to make the .X-iron of the best material, such as Norway iron or steel, and it may be formed with side lips or flanges to lie upon the sides of the wood; or it may be made, as shown, with a slight enlargement at the crossing-point for bolts y to pass down by the sides of the reach. A capping X-iron, Z), will also be used, which will be forged or struck up, as desired. The wooden bars forming the reaches will be halved together at the point B.

The wooden bars maybe set into the bolster by tenon and mortise, if desired; but I do not deem it necessary to do so, as the cap-irons b b, which also pass over the bolster, and the bolts, as shown, form a very strong connection. By crossing the reaches, as shown, a-

much stronger reach is formed than can be done when the bars are not so crossed, or when a single center reach is used, unless much more iron is used in their construction than is necessary in the construction I show.

The advantage of a crossed reach over a side of the king-bolt and extend to the hind single center reach or a double-bar reach is that it acts as a truss against lateral strain so perfectly that it requires less bracing, and so saves in cost of material, and is lighter. It also affords better connection with the bolster or head-block, for it can be connected therewith without inortising said block, as I have shown.

I expect that the iron G, which, as above stated, constitutes the upper fifth-wheel iron and the lower X-iron of the reach, will be manufactured and sold as an article of cornmerce, leaving the wagon or carriage maker to supply the other irons from his own forges. The lower fifth-wheel iron, D, may, and very likely would, also be made to accompany the above-named iron G. The iron G, when so made as an article of trade, would end sufficiently back of the point B to afford opportunity for welding the irons G thereto.

Vhat I claim as new is as follows:

1. In the running-gear of a wagon or carriage, the combination, with a reach formed of two crossed bars, of an X-iron facing the lower side of said reach, which is projected,

' substantially as shown, to form the upper part of the fifth-wheel, and a second X-iron for facing the top side of said reach, which is projected, substantially as shown, to form a connection with the bolster, said two X-irons.

presence of two witnesses.

HENRY MANKEL, JR.

\Vitnesses:

JNo. K. HALLOQK, ROBERT H. PORTER. 

